“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller
Week Forty Four
This exercise is all about discovering the path you will take to making your goals a reality. There are many possible routes that will lead to your destination. In previous weeks, you have looked ahead. Here, you go forward to the ideal conclusion to look back.
Imagine that your next trip out in the car actually takes you ten years into the future. You have done all that you set out to do. Your life is exactly what you aspired. Fully experience and own your future life as if it is in the here and now.
Picking one 10-year goal that you have achieved begin to trickle back – start with the finish post identify the last steps you took to get there. After you review how you reached your 10-year goal, move backwards to your 5 year intermediate goals, and then to your early 1 year goals. After you have spent some time immersing yourself in this future experience, use the following rules to complete the sentence stems below.
I. Use affirmative language to state what you want, not what you don’t want.
II. Use the present tense: e.g. I am. I have. I create.
III. Make it measurable (I will have presented at three conferences by December 2020) so that you will know when you have completed it.
IV. Include a deadline – decide by when your goal will be complete, this helps to get you into action.
1) My 10 year goal is … (be as detailed as you can here)
2) To get to my 10 years goal, in five years I have … (repeat adding endings to this question until there are no more pieces that will have to be completed)
3) To get to my 10 year goal, in one year I have … (repeat adding endings to this question until all your first year steps are accounted for)
For example.
My ten year goal is to have published a New York Times best seller. This fantasy novel will have been made into a blockbuster film and fully merchandised. It has also been translated in languages for worldwide distribution. I have won awards for my book(s) and been on talk shows.
To get to my 10 years goal, in five years I have a completed manuscript in press.
To get to my 10 years goal, in five years I have a fantastic agent and a great publisher.
To get to my 10 years goal, in five years I have been through the editing process and cover design process.
To get to my 10 years goal, in five years I have developed a following on social media.
To get to my 10 years goal, in five years I have rave reviews for my first book.
To get to my 10 year goal, in one year I have the first draft of my manuscript completed.
To get to my 10 year goal, in one year I have adhered well to a daily writing ritual that works for me.
To get to my 10 year goal, in one year I have got feedback on my setting, plot and characters.
To get to my 10 year goal, in one year I have a coach to get me though writers block when it occurs.
To get to my 10 year goal, in one year I have identified possible editors, agents and publishers.
To get to my 10 year goal, in one year I have resources on the writing and publishing process that support and mentor me.
This exercise allows you to go really big with your vision and begin to identify what you need to do to pull it off. This benefits you by allowing you to embrace your possibilities – what you are capable of over the next decade. It also aids with identifying actual steps to reach your goal. This is just an initial plan and additional pieces of the puzzle will be discovered as you conquer each step and develop these nascent skills.